Andre Ward Ready to Head East for Carl Froch Fight
by Scott Christ on Jul 31, 2011 9:08 PM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
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Super middleweight titlist Andre Ward says he's ready for his October 29 fight against Carl Froch, which is the final bout of the two-year Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament, and that he's not concerned about heading out of California for the fight. From Lem Satterfield at The RING:
"We're ready to come East. I am up for the challenge, and I'm fit for the challenge. I'm ready to do it. I've fought in Florida and Connecticut. Those are the only other times I've been East. ... It's not really a big deal. There are certain differences where sometimes it's a little harder because you have to find gyms to work out in leading up to the fight, but we have some connections on the East Coast. People, once again, made a big deal bout me getting to fight in my home down of Oakland, Calif., but I have ample stamps on my passport."
Ward (24-0, 13 KO) likes to talk about traveling abroad as an amateur, but he's mostly fought at home as a pro, and that's all anyone is really concerned with at this point. 16 of his 24 pro fights have been in California. Four of those have been in Oakland, and of his significant pro career, including his fights with Edison Miranda, Mikkel Kessler, Allan Green and Sakio Bika. Also, everyone in the Super Six has had to really travel, except for Ward. These are facts. He can blow it off as not a big deal, but he's fought at home for the entire tournament, while Froch (28-1, 20 KO) has thus far fought once at home in Nottingham, then Denmark, Finland, and Atlantic City. It's just different. It's not Ward's fault that his promoter was able to wrangle that, but it's real, not some criticism that has no basis.
Ward also had this to say about the stylistic matchup:
"People think that I'm more of a slick boxer and that I kind of try to stay off of the ropes. So I guess that they're looking at the notion of, 'Can I outbox Froch and can I stay away from him? Can I stay away from him enough that I can avoid taking punishment, and can I avoid being bullied by him?' I guess that that's the line that most people are using in the way that they're viewing this fight. But, you know, me personally, I disagree with that."
I think Ward is right that many see him as a slick fighter, but I also think Ward is right that the potential perceived style clash is not really the matchup we have here. For slickness, Ward is really overrated. Ward is not really what I would call "slick." Frankly, I think he's a much better bully fighter than Froch is. I don't think that's even close. We've seen Ward bully the hell out of Mikkel Kessler and Allan Green, we've seen him roughhouse with Sakio Bika, and we've seen him box the shoes off of Arthur Abraham and Edison Miranda. Ward is a good boxer, but I think what makes him the top fighter he is is that ability to adapt. Froch has the same thing, actually -- not in the same exact way, but he's also an adaptable fighter who can succeed in different situations and doesn't need Plan A to go perfectly to win.
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I like your analysis of Ward’s style toward the end of this article Scott, but I think you misunderstood Ward’s comment about having fought away from home in the amateurs.
but it’s real, not some criticism that has no basis.
I don’t think he was defending himself against the idea that he has received an advantage in the Super 6 (which he has). It sounds to me like he was defending himself against the notion that this advantage explains his success as a fighter.
Boxing writer: "Iran, what are you going to do when you retire?"
Iran Barkley: "Rob your house"
I don’t think anybody sane believes he won simply for fighting at home, but Ward makes these statements so often that I can only take it as him defending himself at least in part against the idea that he tries to stay at home. I’m just saying that if he doesn’t want to be criticized for fighting only at home, he’ll just have to fight elsewhere once in a while, like he’s doing for this fight. Ward acts like it’s a silly criticism, but I think it’s valid. Everyone else in the tournament had to travel.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Aug 1, 2011 12:51 AM EDT up reply actions
Well, if you're right and he really was defending his, um, "good luck" in the tournament,
then describing other fights outside the tournament makes no sense at all.
Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time a boxer made no sense at all, but I assumed he was saying, look, I know how to fight away from home, and the fact that this fight is in Atlantic City is not a concern.
Boxing writer: "Iran, what are you going to do when you retire?"
Iran Barkley: "Rob your house"
I don’t think Andre is overly concerned about it, but I think he seems overly concerned about people who are overly concerned about it, if that makes sense.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
"but I have ample stamps on my passport"
Hmmmm… two fights outside of the US is it?
Doesn’t exactly make him the “Alan Whicker” of the boxing world does it !
I think this will be a messy fight where two fighters just do not gel. If Froch does his ‘hands by his side facing sidewards routine’, I reckon Ward will pick him off all night.
I know styles make fights and all…, but Kessler gave Froch a tough fight, which is more than he did for Ward.
I think this will be a messy fight where two fighters just do not gel.
100% agreed. I honestly think this is going to be a godawful fight in terms of entertainment value. These two do not add up to anything but chippy dullness. I imagine there being lots of complaining about Froch’s rabbit punches, Ward’s headbutts, and lots of holding and wrestling from both.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
Couple of Points
First of all i got 18 of his fights in Cali, which sounds like a good amount at first blush. However, northern california and southern california are very different places and should almost be considered two different states. That being said Ward has had only 12 out of 24 fights in Northern California, which doesn’t sound too bad. Also Ward went to SoCal for the AA fight, which is about as far as Froch traveled for his fight in Denmark. Now if you say that Ward hasn’t traveled to any other fighter’s home base during the Super Six, that is a valid criticism, but the notion of “Ward hasn’t traveled” is a little silly.
Also as a separate note, people forget how green Ward was coming into the super six. Miranda was a fairly big step-up fight for Ward coming into the super six and people weren’t absolutely sure that he was going to win that fight. So is having a good number of the early fights close to home really wrong?
"The bell that tolls for all in boxing belongs to a cash register."
-Bob Verdi
To add to your point, waldo, I was at the Abraham fight and the crowd was heavily pro Abraham, because of the big Armanian population in Los Angeles, and because Ward is, well, boring. So maybe he hasn’t traveled distance very far but he has definitely fought on “away” turf if we’re talking about crowd influences and still proved the better fighter.
The fact is most guys fight close to or at home in the initial years of their careers. That is how they build their reps and their fan base. Ward may have stayed a bit closer a bit longer but who cares. His victories, although not exactly elegant masterpieces, are all hard fought and earned. He has not been the beneficiary of hometown cooking on the cards. On the other hand, he may find a few of his rough and tumble tactics under greater scrutiny now that he is fighting Froch midway from their respective homes.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
Andre Ward v Carl Froch
I’ve watched, written about, and photographed each of Andre Ward’s fights from Kessler to Abraham; have watched him train, and have watched him fight at the 2004 Olympics.
I’m also a competing martial artist. Where u fight – that’s just geography.
How u fight matters. How u train matters.
Andre Ward trains hard, fights hard – fights strategically, and wins.
My money is going to always be on Andre Ward. Period.
All of this loose lipping about advantages due to geography… everyone who does this should give it a rest, put a sock in it, whatever. A fighter comes to the ring with the correct mind set, after having done the correct training and preparation…he or she wins.
u could be fighting anywhere from the Equator to the North Pole and all points in between.
It really doesn’t matter.
Malaika H. Kambon
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